The Day It All Left
by King-Again23
Summary: **AU** Twins, Kopa and Kion, are the sons of Nala and Scar. Simba, just before they were born, had gotten rid of Scar and became the foster father of the two. Nala had made sure Simba didn't know the truth about the twins, but will that change when their manes come in? Will Simba see the truth? What'll happen when Simba makes Kiara his heir instead of the twins?
1. The Day We Were Born(Prologue)

_The Day We Were Born(Prologue)_

Nala had dug her claws into the ground, giving a roar in pain as Rafiki helped her with the birth. Just as she had begun the birth, Nala couldn't get the horrible thought about Simba finding out that these cubs weren't hiss's. They were Scar's. Just before Simba had come back, Scar had mated with Nala, giving the lioness a cub. But when Rafiki had told her it was two cubs, Nala had silently cursed under her breath.

"I can't do it," Nala breathed. A hint of pain in her voice. "It's too much pain."

"There is no such thing as can't," Sarabi told her with a gentle tone. "Just think, two cubs want to meet their mother, but she's refusing to meet them. What would that say to them?"

Nala sucked in some air before giving a breath, "Fine, I'll do. I just want it to be over!"

After a while of pain, and every much complaining from the queen, two cubs were born. Both with golden-brown fur, and Nala purred loudly and licked her two cubs. Rafiki explained the two were boys and went to go get the King. The 'father' of the two princes. When Simba came into the den, he gave a smile and licked his mate's cheek, looking down to his two little cubs.

"Nala, they're beautiful," Simba lovingly said. "What should we name them? Who should we pick as our heir?"

"Simba, easy," Nala laughed a little. "I was thinking Kopa and Kion."

"Yes," Simba agreed. "Those names are wonderful, my little sons. Kopa and Kion. Make me proud one day, boys."

Yet, not everything would be wonderful, not when Simba would find out Kion and Kopa weren't hiss's of blood, but Scar's. But, for now, everything was in that moment. Simba and Nala couldn't be happier with their cubs, though that moment wouldn't last forever, they would make the most of it as well as they could. After all, the newest generation just began for Pride Rock and the Pridelands.

Oh how would it be wonderful...

"Nala," Simba began. "Rest, you need the strength. I'll look after Kopa and Kion while you sleep."

"Simba, they also need to rest," Nala laughed a little, seeing the twins move more to get the milk. "But right after they finish eating first."

Simba watched his sons before saying, "I wonder what they'll become..."

"Great kings," Nala answered. She looked at her mate. "They'll become kings together, that way we don't have another scar."

"Yes," the king nodded, "that sounds like a plan to me."


	2. The Day We Went Out

_The Day We Went Out_

 ** _Kion's POV_**

"Kopa, were are you going?" I questioned my brother, who was sneaking out of the den. We had just woken up from a long night slumber, though, I swear Kopa was always the first one awake out of the two of us. "Dad said we had to wait until either him or mom was up." I gave out a yawn.

My brother looked back at me, "Come on, Ki, we never do exploring on our own! Let's go! You and me! The two most powerful kings ever around!" I gave him a short smile before getting up.

"We're not even kings, Kop," I said, walking up to him. "Dad still has to choose between us for his heir, and honestly, I don't care if I don't get it." Kopa, this time, gave me a smile of trouble.

"Makes two of us," Kopa added. "You coming or what, bro?" he asked, going back to the cave entrance, where I ran to catch up with him. With a nod, we busted out of the cave and ran right away from Pride Rock. Dad would be pissed at us, but that was part of the fun when getting in trouble.

I didn't say anything as we went around the kingdom, checking everything out. No doubt that dad would've told us to be careful when it came to exploring around the kingdom. He would've mentioned the outsiders too. Kopa and I never got what was the big deal with them, but something was up.

After a while of exploring, we stopped at the watering hole to get some water, like dad did when he woke up in the morning. We thought we could explore some more before we heard paw steps of a bigger lion, we knew it was mom or dad.

"Kopa, Kion," Dad's voice boomed behind us. "There you are. What did I tell you two about going off in the mornings? Always wait for me or your mother to wake up so we can go with you."

"But dad," I started, "it's boring to wait that long for you and mom to wake up. We just wanted to have fun on our own, we stayed in the Pridelands didn't we? We followed that rule!" I beamed with that last part.

Kopa seemed to get where I was going, "Yeah dad!" he agreed with me. "Me and Ki stayed in the Pridelands! We didn't go off into the Outlands like you told us not too!"

He looked to be fooled, "Yes, you did follow that rule. For that, I'm proud of you for it. But," uh-oh, he might have figured out our plan. "You will still need me or Nala to come with you."

"What about grandma Sarabi or grandma Sarafina? They can come with us, right?" Kopa asked him. "That why, you can focus on your kingdom and subjects, while mom is focusing on the hunting party."

"Very funny, Kopa," Dad laughed. "But one of you will be the future king, and the other will lead the lion guard."

I titled my head. The lion guard? What's that? "What's the lion guard, dad?" I asked him.

"The lion guard is a group of lions that work together to protect the Pridelands," he explained. The guard sounded fun! But, also, dangerous. What if me and Kopa wanted to lead the guard?

"Choose Kion as your heir!" Kopa grinned. "I want the guard!"

"No, I do!" I spat back with a playful smirk. Kopa looked at me. "Wanna fight for it?"

"You're on!" Kopa smirked back, and before we could do anything, dad stepped in between us with a playful look within his eyes. Me and Kopa could tell dad was thinking we shouldn't fight for it.

Dad shook his head, "Oh no, you two aren't fighting for it. The roar will come to one of you."

"The roar?" we both asked at the same time. "What's that?" I asked.

"The leader of the lion guard has it," he explained, sitting down next to us. "The roar is known as 'Roar of the elders', every past king comes together and roars at the same time has the leader does."

Kopa awed, "Oh sweet!"

"Yeah, sweet," I agreed with my brother. "Kopa, you should be king! I wanna have the roar."

"No way," Kopa laughed. "You be king!"

"That's enough," Dad spoke. "The roar will choose you."

"Fine," we said together. I badly want to be the lion guard leader, maybe Kopa will, I don't know. All I know was we were both shown to the kingdom, and the light shined down on us together.

Maybe we both were made to be rulers.


	3. The Day They Laughed

_The Day They Laughed_

 _ **Simba's POV**_

I guess time flies by, Kopa and Kion were once newborns, wanting milk from Nala, but now, they're about one month old. The pride loves them, my mother the most though. She spends all her time with them, just as she did with me when dad was gone out dealing with problems of the kingdom. I hate to admit this but, I don't want just one heir, I want them both to be the kings. That way, we don't have another round of Scar.

When we had gotten back to Pride rock, they were off to see my mother, my queen and mate came down to meet me at the base. I gave her a purr and nuzzled her lovingly. Still amazed that I have two wonderful sons of my own. I still wish we named one after my father, but, Nala had two names in mind already.

"Found them at the watering hole," I told her. "They just won't sit still and wait for us to get up! It reminds me of when I was younger, never wanting to wait for my father to get up to show me the kingdom."

Nala laughed, "Maybe you should start thinking about your heir, Simba. Kopa or Kion?" she titled her head with a smile. I wish I could choose between my two sons, but it's hard too. They're both so special to me, and I hold them dear to my heart so quickly.

"I want both of them," I answered. "Though I know one has to be the lion guard leader."

"That is true, but think about it," she began, "if both were your heirs, they could work together at the ruler-ship and the lion guard. It would work out, with a few getting used to's."

Nala was smart, yes, but I feel like I should pick one but I don't want too. Oh well, I'll have to wait and see for the roar to come to one of the boys. If one got the roar, the other would rule. I should wait and see who shows more worthy to the throne to be my heir.

Just as we headed up to the cave, I could hear Kopa and Kion talking with their grandmother. My mother really loved Kion, not that she didn't love Kopa, she did, it was just she saw more of my dad within Kion than Kopa. Which, I guess, she didn't want to lose Kion. Maybe it would make her feel like she lost dad all over again. I just hope they won't stop being her little grandsons.

"And then," Kopa was finishing, "he looked like a wet bear!" he laughed. Kion didn't look so happy. I guess Kopa was teasing Kion again.

"Only because you pushed me into the water!" Kion spat back. "You should hear about the time Kopa got into Rafiki's stuff! His fur was reddish-brown for a week!" this time, Kion laughed.

"You dared me!" Kopa laughed back, with a hint of anger. "I was grounded for two weeks!"

"And you learned a lesson," I said, walking up to my sons and mother. "Rafiki nearly went all over the Pridelands looking for the stuff you got into, Kopa. You were lucky enough he was that mad."

Kion held in a laugh, "He was. You should've seen him when he found Kopa all covered in those stuff! I could hear him from the bottom of his tree!"

"Kopa..." I said in a serious tone. Kopa chuckled nervously.

"S-Sorry, dad," Kopa muttered. "But that was a long time ago, we were six weeks?"

"Still, Rafiki might be still upset with you," I told him. "You're lucky you had no punishment from him."

Kion laughed, "Yeah, he might've done something worse than what mom and dad did to you." I rose an eyebrow before chuckling a little. My mother silently watched us as we talked.

"Alright," she finally said, "time for us to head into the cave for something to eat," I looked at the sun. It just be noon now. "I believe the hunting party got some zebra for us." My eyes shined. Zebra! My favorite!

"Yes," I picked Kion up by the scuff, "time for us to eat!"

Kion moved a little, "Dad! Come on! Put me down! I can walk!"

"No," I said. "You're just gonna run off somewhere to play."


	4. The Day We Met The New Cubs

_The Day We Met The New Cubs_

"So, the cubs are around our age?" Kopa asked his 'father', Simba nodded with a smile. "Yuck. If its two girls then no thanks."

Simba gave out a chuckle. "Now, what's so bad about a girl? Surely you don't agree with Kopa, do you Kion?"

Looking between his brother and parent, Kion gave a shrug as his answer. "I don't know, I just want the cubs to be fun to play with."

"Can't we just play with Bunga?" Kopa groaned, following his brother and father. "None of this will be fun."

The king didn't replie to Kopa at all, he just kept walking towards the cave that held a lioness with her newly one month old cubs. Simba had gotten the news from Zuzu that the cubs had turned one month just three days ago, which meant the cubs was ready to meet the princes.

While Kopa whispered things to his brother about being betrothed to the cub(if it was a girl), Kion was more on the fact if he or she was fun to play with. Of course his twin brother was more on the non-girl side of the whole thing. Kion knew that Kopa was never excited to see girl cubs.

In their Pride, there was only three boy cubs and four girl cubs. Kopa, himself, and a cub named Tako were the boys. Kia, Haimati, Kosa, and Saukra were the girls of the Pride. None of the princes had taken liking into any of the girls, which made Simba unsure about who they would marry. Tako was more interested in Haimati.

"Sire," a creamy gold lioness bowed to Simba, then she noticed the princes. "This must be Prince Kopa and Prince Kion. Your twin sons."

Simba only nodded in his turn. Kopa rolled his green/blue eyes. Kion mearly kept his head high, proud of his title.

"Come, meet my two cubs." she turned to lead them into the cave.

Both princes and their father looked at the two cubs. Unfortantly for Kopa, one of them was a girl and the other was a boy. Kion heard him groan and only laughed for a moment before the lioness had told her cubs to greet the royals.

The boy spoke first. Kopa and Kion found him nice. "I'm Mheetu, the brother of Tiifu, son of Zanta and Kral. Please to meet you Prince Kopa, Prince Kion, King Simba."

Tiifu-what Kion believed it was her name-went next. "I'm Tiifu, the sister of Mheetu, daughter of Zanta and Kral. Nice to meet you Prince Kopa, Prince Kion, King Simba."

"Boys," Simba said to his cubs.

"I'm Prince Kopa," the orange prince greeted back. "Please to meet you." Kion could tell there was dread in his voice for meeting a girl cub.

"And I'm Prince Kion," the golden prince added.

When the greeting was over, Simba had explained that Mheetu and Tiifu would be staying within the Pridelands until their father, Kral, returned. When he was asked by Kion what had happened to the lion, Simba had explained that Kral had gone off to aid another Pride with a war.

It lead to the princes thinking Kral might've cheated on Zanta with another lioness since they had heard lions with cruel hearts started to cheat on their mates. Luckily for them, their father was not cold-hearted. Their great-'uncle' was.

 _ **oOo**_

"How'd it go?" Nala asked seeing her family coming back into the cave. "Did you meet the cubs?"

"Yes, Mheetu and Tiifu."

Nala titled her head at Kopa's respond. It wasn't like him to be unhappy about meeting new cubs, but then again, he wasn't so happy to meet Tako. The brown cub had tripped over his own paws and fell right ontop of Kopa.

"Something wrong, Kopa?" Nala aksed him.

"Tiifu's a girl," Kopa dread again for what seem to be the millionth time. "You know I can't stand meeting girl cubs. Boy cubs I can."

"Nothing's wrong with a girl, in fact, me and your mother have been talking about having another cub or two." Simba said, sitting by his mate. "What do you say about being a big brother you two?"

The princes shared a look.

"I guess I wouldn't mind it."

"Fine by me, I guess."

Simba gave his mate a nuzzle. "Great! Now, you two, go play with your friends."

"Come on Ki!" Kopa shouted, racing out of the cave.

Kion jumped to catch up with Kopa. "Wait up Kop!"

The king and queen gave a laugh before going out to watch their cubs play. Nothing could ruin this moment for them. Simba promised himself to protect the princes with all he had, nothing would harm the boys.


	5. And The Day Of The Grave

_And The Day Of The Grave_

"Dad, this is no fun," Kion groaned.

Simba had just told the twins that they were one. The lions, animals, and earth. Kion, being Kion, had begun to get bored with the lessons. Since the roar was taking a while to show up, Simba had started giving the twins king lessons.

It had been two days since the twins had met Mheetu and Tiifu, the princes kept thinking that they wouldn't play with them since they couldn't find the siblings. So, they were stuck with the lessons.

Before Simba could respond, Zuzu came flying in.

"Good morning sire, princes!" Zuzu bowed.

"Morning, Zuzu." Simba smiled. "What can I do for you?"

Zuzu gave a slight frown before resmiling at his ruler. "The morning report!"

"Go on."

As Zuzu began the morning report, Kion and Kopa started to tackle each other. Not bothering to listen in on the report at all.

Not a moment later, Simba had looked down at them.

"You two trying to tackle each other?" Simba asked.

"Yeah," Kopa nodded.

Looking around, Simba bent down to his sons and whispered, "Let me show you how it's done. Your grandfather showed me how."

As the twins did the same thing as their father, Kion slowly made his way towards Kopa and gave a mighty tackle before pinning his brother to the ground.

Simba gave out a laugh before Zuzu coughed and got his attention. All three of them.

"Sorry, Zuzu," Simba mumbled. "What were you saying?"

Zuzu rolled his eyes. "I said the animals are needing your help with the elephants. Apparently they are refusing to move for the zebras."

The king titled his head in confusion. "Odd, the elephants never bothered the zebras at all before. I'll be with them in a moment, Zuzu. Go tell them that."

With a bow, the bird took off.

"Dad, can we come with you?"

Looking down at his heirs, Simba thought for a moment. Why not? With a nod, the twins cheered and walked with their father to the whole thing.

But on the way, Kopa stopped Kion for a moment. When Simba had asked why they were stopping, Kopa had just told him to go on and that they would meet him there. It seemed to work when Simba went on his way to the elephants and zebras.

"What?" Kion asked. "Why did you stop us?"

Kopa smiled, "Two words; Elephant Graveyard."

"Elephant Graveyard?"

"Let's go there! right now!" Kopa said, running in the dircetion of the old place. His brother close on his tail. Kopa ignored his brother's complaints and worries being shouted to him. "Stop worrying! Didn't you ever wonder how it looked in real life?"

With a shamed nod, Kion couldn't believe Kopa had actually wanted to go to the place of the bones of the dead. Their parents had said they nearly died there but Mufasa had saved them in time.

"Grandpa won't save us," Kion told his brother. "What if we nearly die in there?"

"Please, whoever lived here before we were born are long gone!" Kopa laughed, seeing the entrance of the graveyard. "I beat every herd leader is burried there!"

"But it's full of bones," Kion agured. "Remember what mom said? Full of bones."

Kopa looked down at his paws for a moment. "Fine-we'll only go in for a look! Then, we're out and we go to dad!"

"You better keep that promise, Kopa."

 _ **oOo**_

"Wow!" The twins said at once, seeing the old place full of bones. "Told you this was a good idea," Kopa bregged.

Kion rolled his eyes at his brother, "You did not. Now, we took a look, can we go?" Kopa laughed and went down the path more. "Kop, you promised."

With another laugh, the orange pelt prince laughed before going farther down with his brother behind him. How could Kion want to miss out on this? This place was amazing!

"Don't worry, Ki," Kopa laughed. "Nothing is here to harm us! Tell me you see a sign of a hyena!"

Going a bit pale, Kion shook his head. "Well, no...but, come on, anything could be out here wanting to harm us!" he expected something to prove him right but nothing came.

His twin brother just rolled his eyes and walked even more down into the graveyard and soon eough the princes were just about lost in the place.

It got to the point that they were asking each other if they knew where they were and soon enough, Kopa actually believed that Kion was right about not to come into the graveyard.

"I-I'm sure this is the right way," Kopa mumbled. "Or was it that way?"

"Face it, bro, we're lost." Kion sighed. "I told you we shouldn't have come in here."

Kopa nodded, feeling scared. "Y-You were right, then."

oOo

"Have you seen the twins, Simba? I can't find them anywhere," Nala asked her mate, looking everywhere. "They need their bath..."

Simba shook his head, "No. Kopa pulled Kion aside to talk last time I saw them, we were on our way to help the elephants and zebras settle something. I'm sure they couldn't have gone far..."

"Simba, what if they went to the Elephant Graveyard?" Nala asked. "They might be lost!"

"Then, let's go find them!"

 _ **oOo**_

"Ki, we should just find somewhere to rest," Kopa muttered, falling behind his brother. His paws ached and he was tried. "We're not gonna get home today."  
As much as he hated to admit it, Kopa was right. Kion's paws also ached, every time he took a step, he could feel the pain. So, going over to the closet place to lay down, the twins laid down under some bones, placing their heads on their aching paws.

"You made lost, Kopa," Kion told his brother. "We could've stayed behind dad and dealt with the whole thing with him, but you had to go to the graveyard."

"Sorry." was the answer. "I just wanted to see it for myself with you."

"We're gonna be grounded," Kion sighed. "Until we're three months, I'm telling you that much."

Kopa looked at his brother. "Maybe for a few weeks, but I doubt dad and mom would be that cruel as to ground us until we're three months old."

"Maybe not, but why did you want to see it anyways?" Kion asked. "It's not our kingdom, Kopa. Remember? Dad said everything the light touched is our kingdom."

"Fine...I'll explain it to them, and get you out of trouble." Kopa mumbled.

 _ **oOo**_

Coming into the graveyard, Simba and Nala looked around for the twins. Feeling a little guilty, Simba quickly thought about where they might be.

"Spilt up."

Simba blinked. "What?"

"Spilt up, we'll find them faster." Nala repeated. "Go that way, I'll go this way."

Watching her run into the direction, Simba took one last look before going his way, hoping to find the cubs before it got dark.

They needed to find them.

 _ **oOo**_

After a while of laying down, Kopa got up with a wince, his paws still hurt but they needed to get out of the graveyard. Kion, seeing his brother getting up, went on his paws and took a step out of the resting place.

That's when they heard paw-steps coming towards them. Gulping, the two unleashed their claws but stopped when they saw Nala coming into view.

"Mom!" they shouted, running to her. "We're so sorry!"

Nala nuzzled her sons. "It's alright, as long as your safe. Let's go home."

Kion shifted on his paws, "Mom, our paws hurt."

"Nala!"

Turning her head, Nala saw Simba coming up to her.

"You found them!" he sighed, he moved to pick Kion up. "Carry Kopa."

When he felt his mother pick him up, Kopa looked over at his brother, who was hanging from his father's mouth. The prince gave his brother a weak smile. Yet Kion mouthed, _'explain it to them and get yourself out of trouble'_.

"It was my idea," Kopa finally said. "I got me and Kion lost in the graveyard. Only ground me."

"No, Kopa," Simba said, walking with is mate. "Both of you aren't grounded but you are in trouble for going into the graveyard."

"What's our punishment then?" Kion asked.

"You'll be staying at Priderock for two weeks, only leaving if you have me or your mother with you two." Simba explained.

For once, the boys didn't complain.


	6. Had Us Wanting It To Never End

_Had Us Wanting It To Never End_

"Meet your little sister, Kiara." Simba told his twins. The boys were now 3 months old.

The twins looked down on the infant cub, she looked like Simba a lot. Kion titled his head and bent down so Kiara could touch his muzzle.

She grabbed it and gave her brother gave a small, happy, mew, it made Kion smile a little. As did Kopa. But Simba looked down at his sons's heads and saw a bit of their manes coming in.

"Good news," Simba said. "Your manes are coming in."

"Awesome!" The boys said, Kiara titled her head a little when she couldn't hold Kion's muzzle anymore. "What color?"

"Too early to tell," Nala explained. A bit of happiness in her voice, trying to keep her secret in. "But they should be red."

"You do take after me, boys." Simba sounded so proud. Nala hoped he was no matter what would happen in the future for the twins.

 _ **oOo**_

"Kopa, Kion, wait for me!" a eight week old, Kiara, said. Running after her older brothers as they went out of the cave. "You promised we play!"

Kopa rolled his eyes at his sister, "You should stay inside the cave, Kiara. Wait until dad comes and then you can come find us."

"Besides, we're going to play with Mheetu and Tiifu today." Kion added. "We don't need another cub to come play along with us."

Kopa gave his twin a laugh, and looked over his shoulder at the younger cub. "Don't worry, Kiara. We'll play with you another day."

Kiara sat down, watching her brothers go to their friends. They never had time for her anymore. Simba, their father, was stressed since the roar didn't come to them at all. Of course, their mother spent more time with them longer than before now.

"Why are you so sad?" Simba asked, sitting down by his daughter. "I thought your brothers were going to play with you."

"Were," Kiara mumbled, "But now, their playing with Tiifu and Mheetu. It's not fair."

"Princess, they're older and both are going to be king." Simba explained. "They'll play with you when they get back."

Kiara frowned and looked up at her father. "But you always say that, daddy. But they come home tired and refuse to play. Besides, mom spends more time with them than with me."

Simba gave out a laugh. "They're growing up, their not going to stay little forever."

 _ **oOo**_

"Just tell us!" Kopa groaned, while Mheetu was looking at his brother's head. They were trying to find out the color of their manes.

Mheetu's mane was brown, he had gotten it from their father, of course. After a while of looking to decide the mane color. Mheetu spoke up.

"I saw some black." Mheetu told the boys. "You might have a black mane."

The twins looked at each other. "Sweet!"

"Though," Mheetu went on. "With Kion, I saw black and red."

"I got two colors? Awesome!" Kion cooed. Kopa gave his brother a smile. "I want Kopa to have a two color mane also!"

Mheetu sat down. "I only saw black on the little tuff that was coming in."

"Aww..." Kopa whined. "But still, black is cool."

"So is black and red," Tiifu added.

Kion smiled. "I can't wait to tell dad and mom!"


	7. The Day of The Truth

**It has been some time! So sorry but school was a pain in the ass! But I am back!**

 _The Day of the Truth_

Running back home, Kopa and Kion eventually made it back to priderock. When they reached the top of the slope and were greeted by a young Kiara, their parents, and most of the pride members.

"See, Kiara? Your brothers are back and will be more than happy to play with you." The golden king stated. "Isn't that right, boys?"

Kopa shifted slightly, he didn't really wanna play with Kiara at the moment. In fact, he was more wanting to see off his incoming mane to his father. To tell him he was going to have a black mane(as that was what Mheetu had said) and Kion was going to have a two colored mane.

"Dad, we want to tell you something." Kion spoke up, going right to his father. "We'll play with Kiara later, I promise."

Kiara knew that her brothers would lash that out on her. Her brothers never really wanted to play that much. Nala had said it was because they were aging so fast that they were losing their liking to play with cubs younger but the twins stated they would. They kept the promise once.

"Oh?" Simba titled his head with a grin. "What might that be, sons? Is it how you want to be a great king like your grandfather and dad...?" he asked chuckling slightly at his suggestion.

"Nope!" Kopa beamed. "It's about our manes! Mheetu said he could see black on my head, but for Kion, he could see black and red! Cool, huh?"

Simba stopped suddenly. Black...? Red and black...? He shook his head slightly, there was no way his sons could have black manes, well a two colored mane for Kion but maybe he had just misheard his sons speak? Yes, that had to be it. Surely his sons would have just red manes, maybe a brown one? Slightly, Simba peered down on his sons' head and gasped a bit.

"I'll be right back."

When the king left into the den, the boys looked at each other before hearing Kiara stepping closer to them. Her eyes were wide with playfulness and while they didn't have the time, they couldn't just ignore Kiara again.

"Fine, fine," Kopa rolled his eyes. "We can play now, sis."

Kion sighed. "Just don't expect us to do much work while we do."

 _ **oOo**_

By the time Simba had found his mate, he took her away from Sarafina and the other lionesses to talk for a while. The queen, of course, was confused by this since she had to take the hunters out to get dinner and what not, but the look on her mate's face said otherwise.

"Simba, is something wrong?" Nala asked, her sharp green eyes filled with worry.

Simba inhaled and exhaled before opening his mouth before shutting it slightly. No, this had to be wrong. His theory couldn't possibly be right in all of this, right? There was no way he could be right, after all, Nala had told him many times he was the father of her cubs.

Even if he needed to hear it again and again.

"Our 'sons' tell me they're going to have black manes," Simba growled. "Is that true?"

Nala backed up a little. "Simba, what are you talking about?"

"Nala you know what I'm talking about!" Simba rolled his eyes. "Kopa told me himself, Mheetu saw a marking of black tuffs coming in."

Nala's green eyes widen as Simba finished his sentence. There wasn't really hiding the truth anymore. But she could still try!

"Simba, I promise you this," Nala began. "Kopa and Kion are your's. They aren't anyone else's."

Frowning, Simba growled. "Then why do I sense Scar on them?"

"You can just think that!" Nala challenged. "What will you even do? You can banish cubs! They're your's!"

Simba took a moment to cool down. "Nala, I can sense you're lying. Please, tell me. Are they truly Scar's...?"

"You'll get mad."

"I won't. I promise." Simba said, nuzzling her. "Yes, I'll be displeased you lied, but at least I'll know."

"They are Scar's and the only reason I said they were your's was to make sure they had a wonderful future and life," Nala explained, on the brink of tears. "Simba, I beg you! Do not make them leave!"

He shook his head. "I won't do that. Instead, I'll have Kiara as my heir. The boys will never take the throne."

"They're royal, Simba! Sons of a king!" Nala hissed slightly.

"Not the current king." Simba noted. "They can stay and be raised as my sons. But not my heirs."

With that, he walked away from the queen. Coldness in his eyes. Yes, he wasn't so sure if he could be easy on the twins anymore...


	8. The Day of the Anger

_The Day of the Anger_

Princess Kiara, the new heir to the throne, was lost. Her father had told them she would become queen instead of her brothers becoming king. Right away Kopa spat out how it wasn't fair and how he and Kion were born first to the throne, making it so they were first in line. Not Kiara herself. The princess couldn't agree more but Simba had made his choice. Kiara was going to be queen of the Pridelands.

It had been a few months since then and Kiara wanted to sneak in some play time before her lessons with Simba. So, she went to the first lion that came to mind...

"Kopa...?"

The creamy pale golden lion's ears perked before green/blue eyes turned towards the crowned princess of the throne. "What do you want, Kiara?"

Just like his brother, Kopa had changed over the news of the crowning. He was no longer cheerful and playful, he refused to play with Tiffu and Mheetu, he even didn't care if Kion wanted to go out to get some sunlight before they went and ignored their family again. His black mane was coming in nicely, the mane was easily seen now, confirming his father to Simba. Kion's mane was black also, making them believe Mheetu had lied but Kopa saw some red on there and it turned out, Kion was in fact going to have a black/red mane.

"I just wanted to play," Kiara mumbled, trying to stay calm at the sight of Kopa's frown. "C-Could you play with me before my-"

"Hell no. Get out." Kopa growled, turning away from Kiara. "If you see Kion, tell him to meet me at the watering hole."

Kiara's eyes widen as Kopa got up, moving past her. The prince had gotten a bit taller since the day of the news got out. He was the size as a teenaged lion, as was Kion, but he reminded as shorter than the king. Kion was no different than his brother.

The once hyper, kind, cub was gone. Replaced with a sticker for rules, not at all easy to greet, and further more he always hung around another lion named Tanabi. Tanabi wasn't much older than Kiara herself and he always teased her about things. Kion and Kopa never stood up for her. The male lion was dark orange, had a reddish-brown mane, and sharp blazing green eyes.

"Oh...okay, Kopa." Kiara nodded, staring at her paws. "I'll do that for you."

"Thank you." The prince hissed back.

 _ **oOo**_

Kion ran through the Pridelands, he was running in the direction of the watering hole, like his brother requested he meet him there. Many animals had given him looks, not bothering to stop him, others just simply didn't mind him. Ever since the news gotten out to the subjects, not one animal dared to go up to the princes. Not that they minded, they wanted to be alone.

Tiffu and Mheetu were the only ones besides the queen they would let near them. For one simple reason only. They felt safe around them.

"Kopa!" The golden lion breathed, catching his breath. Kopa narrowed his eyes at his brother. "What's wrong? You usually stay in the den."

Kopa growled. "I would've but Kiara came around and wanted to play. Like I'm going to play with her after what happened."

Kion pinned his ears back and bared his teeth. "Great. Now we have to deal with crowned princess too."

"Don't worry, Ki. Everything will be fine." Kopa promised, circling his brother to stand beside him. "Just think about a Kingdom to ourselves!"

Kion luaghed for a moment. "How to you expect we do that? We're not gonna kill Simba."

"Never said we would."

The two had stopped calling the king dad, instead they called him Simba. Believing he had no right to be called dad anymore.

"Mom won't be happy if we do." Kion rolled his eyes.

"Please, even if we did, we would simply blame it on someone else." Kopa mumbled. "Like...Tanabi."

Kion frowned. "Hell no. Tanabi is like a second brother to me. I might even name my cub after him."

Kopa scoffed. "Like any lioness would want to be mates with us after knowing we're not gonna be king."

"Hey, not all lionesses like a lion in charge of a Kingdom." Kion noted. "Tiffu has her eyes on you."

The creamy pale prince blinked before jumping on a rock, standing over his brother. The wind picked up and blew the parts of his mane a little. His eyes sharp as the sky.

"I'm not interested in Tiffu," he declared. "You can have her."

"Not a chance." Kion growled. "If anything she has a better chance with Chaka."

"Whatever, whatever."

Kopa jumped down and leaned in to whisper in his brother's ear.

"Now...here's what we're gonna do..."


	9. The Day of the Choice

_The Day of the Choice_

Nala didn't know what to think at this point in time of the Pridelands. It was just about around the time when Kopa and Kion started to act up like Scar did. Sarabi said it was because of the feeling of jealous in their hearts that couldn't escape, Sarafina had mentioned to her to make sure the boys always were included in many things.

Simba simply just couldn't include them in the royal lessons he teached Kiara, even though Nala said they could go along and learn a few things about the circle of life and ruling just in case something were to happen to Kiara along the way.

By the time Simba noticed the change in the two princes, he started to include them in the lessons, for both Kiara and Nala's happiness but the princes did not show interest in being around Simba anymore. The golden king started to wish for the princes old personality back and them being happy once more instead of being like Scar.

Just when the boys came back from the watering hole, Nala stopped them from going into the den for another night to be alone without having dinner, though the boys ate alone with each other. At times they would eat with Tiffu and Mheetu too, but that was it for the rest of the time.

"You two are going to eat with the pride tonight," Nala declared to her sons. "I am in no mood to hear your excuses for why you aren't going too."

Kopa narrowed his eyes and threatened to growl at his mother, but Kion shoved him a little to make him shut up. The prince cleared his throat.

"Yes, mom." Kopa said nicely, his old warming tone coming back when he was around his mother. "We'll be there."

When the queen walked away to join the hunting party, Kion growled lowly, clawing the ground the best he could. Kopa simply rolled his eyes at the thought of eating with Simba, Kiara, and the rest of the pride. Many of the lionesses liked the two princes, some lions of the pride too, but it was mainly Tiffu, Mheetu, Tanabi, Chaka, and a few more.

"You realize we're going to have to put up with Kiara and Simba, right?" Kion asked his brother.

Kopa smiled. "Yes, but we'll have all day tomorrow to plan this through and when we should tell them of our choice."

"Kopa, are you really sure we can't do this now?" Kion asked, titling his head. "The timing is perfect. No one will notice."

"No. We stay until our manes are a bit more in before doing so," Kopa stated, looking up to the sky. "Besides, the great kings will guide us."

Kion simply huffed before going to the slope where the king would roar to his Kingdom when claiming it, to the every spot they used to hear stories with Simba. Where he would teach lessons.

The Kingdom seemed so small to him now.

"What does it matter what the kings say?" Kion asked, eyes sharpining. "As if it weren't enough, Simba has to go and make it seem like we're not wanted around here."

"You know what he said about Scar," Kopa growled. "He had a darkness in himself he couldn't escape. We're going to escape that darkness, brother."

Kion shifted slightly before locking eyes with Simba himself, he turned his head away and Kopa didn't need to be told who Kion saw. He could hear the king's pawsteps coming closer and closer till they stopped. Yes, Simba would try and fix this madness again.

It wouldn't be able to work like the last few times.

"Kopa, Kion," Simba's voice said behind them. "We need to talk about something."

"Is it about how you hate us and don't want us?" Kion guessed.

"Or about how you just don't like us anymore to give Kiara the throne instead of us?" Kopa added on.

Simba stared at the two, shocked they would think that's what he wanted to talk about. He didn't hate the two princes, though he wished they had a different father, he didn't want them to leave and he surely didn't think giving Kiara the throne would change them so much!

"That isn't what I want to talk about," He firmly said. "It's about your change in mood."

 _oOo_

It was about Midnight was Kopa woke up his brother, his eyes trailed towards the den entrance and Kion followed. The cold breeze was slowly blowing but they didn't mind the coldness. At this time, they truly felt at peace like nothing could harm them in the world.

Yet in the den, Nala's eyes slowly opened, hearing her sons move out of the den. Quietly, she followed her boys out, watching them watch the night sky and stars coming out. She knew they felt at peace and could possibly looking for their father.

"You boys seem at peace." She spoke, moving towards them.

Kion nearly jumped while Kopa gave a soft gasp, turning to look over their shoulders. Nala's eyes held nothing but love towards them.

"I...we..." Kion began, unable to speak. "Yes. We are."

"Good. Because I always wondered what it would take to make you two at peace again." Nala chuckled, sitting in between them.

Kopa sighed. "Mother, why does he hate us?"

"Simba does not hate you." Nala explained softly to them. "He just can't come to terms with the new information."

"Who was our father?" Kion asked, shifitng a little. Eyes going to the sky. "We can't find his star..."

Nala took a moment. "I'm afraid I don't think you'll be able to find that star. He wasn't the best of lions."

"Was it Scar?" Kopa guessed. "Does that explain why we get looks from the pride?"

"Yes." Nala nodded. "He was Scar. I'm sorry I kept that from you."

Kion nuzzled his mother, trying to make her feel better. Kopa did the same. "Don't worry, mom. We forgive you. Simba was good to us up until that day." Kion said.

"Besides, we still have you." Kopa added on. "Tell us more about your own father, Adofo."

Nala smiled a bit. "My father looked a bit like Kion with a red mane. Possibly explaining the red and your looks Kion. But his eyes were a blue-green color. Well one was. The other was light brown. He loved my mother more than anything...I wish I could've met him though..."

Feeling sorry for his mother, Kion pulled away a bit. Letting her see his eyes.

"What happened to him?" he asked.

"I don't really know, Kion," Nala sighed. "He suddenly disappeared one day. Many say he was killed by Scar himself, but I can't be sure."

Kopa frowned. "We sorry mother. We'll keep Adofo in our hearts."

"Maybe name a cub after him." Kion promised.

Nala felt her heart warming up at the sight.

"I'm sure you'll do your grandfather proud..."


	10. The Day of the Betrothed

_The Day of the Betrothed_

A day after the talk between the mother and her sons, Kiara was finally going to meet her betrothed. The princes stood beside her in front of the den, eyes going to the land they so wanted to get away from for a while but Simba would never let them.

With a deep breath, Kiara finally moved down the slope and waited for the betrothed to get here. Simba was beside her all the way while gazing back to his sons or rather...cousins.

"How long till he gets here?" Kopa asked, bored. "We have better things to do."

Simba frowned at Kopa's comment. "Oh? Do you now?"

"Yeah, in fact we do have better things to do." Kion remarked, narrowing his eyes. "Much better things than to stick around you, Simba."

Simba growled a bit before turning his gaze away from the two princes, his gave out a sigh as the male came into view. Giving his daughter a smile before going to meet up with the mother of the cub. Kopa snickered at Kiara, teasing her about the whole thing. Kion joined in soon after.

"Kiara, meet Kovu." Simba said, coming back into view the reddish-brown cub. "He's going to be your betrothed."

Kiara's eyes widen at the sight, as did Kovu's. Both looked away from each other and didn't speak a word. Yes, they did not like each other one bit. It made things worse when Kopa spoke up.

"That thing?" Kopa teased. "He looks like he can't handle a simple dare! Please! He's a weakling rather than a cub who can fight for what's his."

Kion laughed with his brother while Kovu shrunk back in hurt. Kovu's mother, Makali, growled a bit at the prince and snapped at him. Saying he shouldn't say awful things about the betroled of his sister but Kopa merely got up with Kion and narrowed his eyes.

"I would shut up if you don't wanna lose your life." Kopa warned, unleashing his claws. "Our father was a king himself."

Makali rolled her green eyes. "Yes, I know. He's King Simba."

"He is not," Kion explained. "Simba's our stand-in father."

Kovu shook a little before gulping down his fear and going to Kiara to greet her for the first time, invited her to play and took off a moment later.

Simba simply took the lioness away from the princes and explained everything to her about how they weren't his sons, but left out their real father, and just said he died a long time ago before they were even born to get to know him.

Kopa looked over at his brother and flicked his tail angerly.

"Soon enough, we'll be out of here," He promised.

"Better be." Kion mumbled. "Can't stand to stay here if we have to deal with the lioness."

 _ **oOo**_

Just about when the time came to tell about their choice, Simba had pulled the boys aside to talk to them but the princes weren't going to listen to anything he would say.

In fact, Simba wanted to talk about Kovu and Kiara.

Just their luck, huh?

"Since Kovu and Kiara are getting along well, I choose to get you two mates as well," Simba told them with a smile.

"What...!?" Kopa shouted, angered.

"Not happening!" Kion agreed.

Simba stared at the princes. "You...you don't want a mate? But how are you going to have cubs?"

"We pick our own mates." Kopa explained. "Not your choices in our lives."

"Kion, Kopa, you two are going to have to deal with my choice." Simba said, giving them a glare. "The lionesses I picked out are looking for mates too."

Kion frowned. "And we are?"

"Do you even know if we want mates?" Kopa dared the king. "Don't think so. Let's go, Ki."

Going away from the king, Simba only watched the two move away. He was trying to handle the shaky relationship between them, he was trying so hard to get along with them once more but now it seemed impossible. The two hardly wanted to do anything.

By the time they were away from the king, Nala came in to sit beside her mate and king. Yes, she had seen everything. She was happy Simba was trying to get along with her sons, but it never worked.

"What should I do, Nala?" Simba asked. Lost. "They don't like anything I do for them anymore."

"Maybe try to spend time with them, do what they want." Nala expressed. "Give them time, Simba. The more time you spend getting along with them, the more your relationship with them will return."

Simba chuckled. "How did I end up with you? The most beautfiul, smart, and amazing queen any lion could wish for."

"Don't try and flatter me, Simba." Nala nuzzled him.

"I hope spending time with them will work..."


	11. The Day of the Spend

_The Day of the Spending_

 ** _Simba's POV_**

A few hours later in the day, I went to find the twins I used to call my sons. Yes, I loved them, I only want the best for them. Yet, I can't get it out of my mind that they're Scar's sons. Kiara is always trying to get along with them, with failure around every chance she gets.

Luckily, Nala suggested that I spend a few hours with the boys doing whatever they liked. I know Kion just loves to hunt on his own time, so I'll start with Kion and make it over to Kopa. Maybe meeting half way in between to spend the whole day with both.

Seeing the goldenly pelt of Kopa's twin, I cleared my throat before going over. I admit, I am jealous of his two colored mane. Black and red who could've guessed that Kion would be lucky enough to have two colors? He would be a heart breaker for sure.

"Kion," I greeted him with a small smile. "I hear you're a great hunter. You must get that from Nala."

He looked at me with a strange gaze, confusion in his eyes. "Er...yes...? Simba, what are you doing here and what do you even want?"

He must be hunting for him and Kopa.

"I just wanted to spend time with you, Kion." I explained, sitting down next to him. "I'll do anything you want with you for today."

"Simba," Kion's voice held something I couldn't explain. "I think we both know you didn't come up with this yourself. Mother must've told you to hang out with me today."

I let out a chuckle. "You get her smarts then."

"Why are you trying, Simba? You know me and Kopa hate you." Kion mumbled under his breath, barely loud enough for me to hear him.

"Kion, I still think about you two as my sons," I explained. "Even if you are not. Do understand that law says in order to rule, you must be the cub of the current king or the consort of the current heir to rule. If I could change those rules, I would."

Kion shifted nervously, seeming to hide something. I was starting to get afraid, was he and Kopa planning something? Would they be on killing me like Scar did to my own father? No, they would never do something like that!

"Simba, do you think I'm going to end up like Scar?" Kion suddenly asked me.

"No, I don't think that." It was honest. It was the truth. Kion was not like his father in anyway possible. "You bare nothing what he did."

Suddenly, Kion stood up and ran a couple of minutes before looking back at me with a smirk. His eyes shined with playfulness that was long forgotten. He gave me a smile.

"We going hunting or not?" Kion yelled back to me. Waiting. "Come on!"

"Fine by me." I whispered, running to catch up with him.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all...

 _ **oOo**_

After the hunt, Kion and I talked while taking the zebra we got back to Priderock, or rather where he and Kopa were staying. He had explained that they wouldn't be so happy to eat around with the other pride members simply because of the looks, and well, I couldn't say no.

Yet when Kopa's blue-green eyes fell on me, I held my head high. Kion dragged the zebra to his brother and sat down next to him.

The black mane of Kopa's was reminding me of Scar so much, but I held back that statement coming to mind. He wouldn't like it at all.

"Explain why he's here, brother." Kopa growled to his twin.

"He helped with the hunt." Kion whispered. "He wanted to spend time with me and ended up helping."

Kopa frowned. "You hunt just fine on your own, Ki." he turned to me with more of a growl. "Why are you even here, Simba?"

"Kopa, trust me, I want to get along." I answered. "Like the old days."

"Those days are gone!" He spat out, Kion simply watched. "The old us are gone."

I shook my head. "The two playful cubs I knew are still in there somewhere. Please, just meet the two lionesses."

"What pride?" Kion asked. "What pride are they from?"

I began to recall the pride I asked if any lionesses were seeking mates, and the one I remember the most is the Sunveiw Pride.

"The Sunveiw Pride," I said firmly. "We're on happy terms with them at the moment."

Kopa clawed the dead animal a little. "Fine. We'll meet them. But don't come crying to us when we turn them down."

"In a instant." Kion added, taking a bite of his prey.

"That's fine." I nodded. "Goodbye you two."

To my surprises, I heard them say goodbye back. Maybe Nala was right, they agreed to meet the lionesses and Kion actually got along with me for a while. Yes, maybe this could work...


	12. Were The Last Days We Had Spent

_Were The Last Days We Had Spent_

"Boys!" called the king of the Pridelands.

Right on cue the two princes walked down from the slope of Priderock right down to the king. Two lionesses and one lion stood with the king. The lion had broad shoulders, pronounced jaw, was muscular, and had a thick brown mane. His fur was of reddish-brown and his eyes were of red.

The two lionesses were a different story than the lion himself.

"Yes, Simba?"

One of the lionesses had pale orange fur, chocolate brown eyes, with one stripe down her head. The other had dark brown fur with pale blue eyes, that almost made Kopa wince away at the sight, yet the calmingly didn't seem scared to show it off.

Simba gave a smile. "Boys, meet King Jaal of the Sunview Pride. With him are Amana and Hediye."

"Nice to meet you boys," Jaala bowed his head to the princes. "Amana, Hediye, say hello to the princes."

The pale orange fur lioness dipped her head. "Hello, I'm Amana."

"Hediye," the other one said, dipping her head also.

Kopa rolled his eyes, as well as Kion, but the princes kept quiet during this all. Simba was going to expect the princes to be on their best behavior and they wouldn't very much like this all.

"Why don't you four go do something together?"

Kion rolled his eyes before pushing past the two lionesses, Kopa following. "Fine, fine. Just follow us, would you?"

Simba instantly felt bad for the two. His princes were in a bad mood since they had learned meeting the lionesses were to be today. "I'm sorry for their mood. They're not in the best of moods today."

"No, it's fine King Simba," Amana dipped her head. "We understand, come on Hediye."

With a silent nod, Hediye began to follow her friend after the two princes. Now, of course they had known the princes didn't like the fact they were going to meet up with two strange lionesses and neither did they like the fact. They had been close friends with two other males in their Pride and wanted to become mates with each other. Just before they're leaving, the two males asked them if they would be their mates if the princes didn't like them. The agreed without thinking about it first.

During the tour of the Pridelands, the two could hear the princes whispering about something until Amana had to speak up to the twins. Something was off about them for sure.

"Okay, what are you talking about?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.

"None of your business." Kopa growled.

"Come on, we won't tell." Hediye pleaded. "We don't like this anymore than you do."

Kion scoffed. "Sure you don't, you two would do anything to be with royalty."

"We have mates back in Sunview."

Kopa stopped, his eyes landed on them. "You...you do?"

"Yes," Amana nodded. "We just became mates with them, but King Jaal still made us come here!"

"Tough luck." Kion mumbled.

For the rest of the visit, not one spoke a word. At all.

 _ **oOo**_

When the Sunview pride members left the Pridelands, Simba was waiting for the twins answers on if they would take them as mates, not knowing the lionesses had one already. Kopa was the first to turn around and cleared his throat, Kion shortly did after. Staring their parents in the eye.

Nala waited with a smile, not caring if the boys didn't want them as mates. All she wanted was for them to be happy, even if they had to pick mates from their own pride. Kiara right by her side as the twins took another moment.

"We chosen our answer," Kopa began.

"We will not take them as mates." Kion finished, much to Simba's annoyance.

"What!?" Simba roared, angered. "Give me one good reason why not!"

Nala gasped. "Simba!"

"Simple," Kion grinned. "We're leaving the Pridelands."

In that moment, everything went still.

"W...What?" Nala managed to get out, moving to look her sons in the eyes. "What do you mean leaving!?"

Kion gave a breath in and then out. "We're going off to find our own land, mom."

"To rule together!" Kopa added. "We're not leaving because of you, no. Because of him!" He gave a glare to the golden king.

Simba blinked. Once. Twice. "What did I do?"

"Oh, let's see...everything!" Kopa growled, flicking his tail. "You gave the throne to Kiara, she wasn't even first born! You make our life a living hell."

"I do nothing like that!" Simba growled back. "I've been making sure you have the best life!"

"Doesn't matter." Kion said. No expression. "We're leaving. End of story."


	13. The Week We Travled

_The Week We Traveled_

 _ **Kopa's POV**_

As me and Kion walked through the Pridelands in the morning, we kept getting strange looks from the animals of the pride. Bunga, Fuli, Ono, and Beshte came up to us and demanded to know where we were going but we didn't even open our mouths. Tiffu and Mheetu and the other cubs in the pride asked the same thing but it was just the same answer.

The borders finally came into view as we gazed over our shoulders one last time to look at our birth Pride before heading over to the Outlands. Not like we would be staying within the Outlands at all though, it would be easy to get out without being seen which it was.

Not an animal was to be seen as we began our travel throughout the land, finally managing to see the final set of borders that would connect us to the Pridelands. Many Prides came this way to meet up with Simba, the Outlanders had no choice but to let them through without a fight. It was a bit sad if you think about it.

"Kopa," I heard Kion say.

I honestly couldn't careless about what he was going to say. Not like I didn't care for him, I do with my heart but he could be more weak than powerful at times. He would never fight unless he would have to, which I think Simba made him like that, nothing like our real father would do. No, from what I heard, Scar was one to fight when needed and if he wanted to.

"What do you want, Kion?" I asked him, trying not to sound so mean to him.

"How long until we can rest and hunt for some food?" He asked me, trying to look around for any signs of prey that be around.

He had a point. We needed to find some food if we were going to be looking for land to own ourselves. At one point, we heard our stomachs growl for food and Kion sniffed the air and right towards a patch of land, I quickly followed my brother.

The land he set us into was fresh full of animals, trees, water, and so much more. Unlike the Pridelands, there was no Pride Rock. We hid behind a bush trying to figure out what animals we may as well hunt, seeing there were no other lions around.

I heard him unleash his claws and was about to go jump out at the passing animal when I stopped him, he gave me a look.

"What are you doing?" He whispered to him. "I'm about to get us something to eat!"

"Something isn't right." I whispered back. "I feel like there is another lions around here and we're on their territory."

Kion rolled his eyes. "Not likely. Now, can I get us that antelope?"

I sighed and watched as he jumped up and onto the animal, he quickly bite into it's neck and waited until it was fully dead until he dropped it, biting into it to eat. He flicked tail for me to come on out and start eating.

Carefully I did so, still feelig rather unsure about this all. But, it was a good thing we at least had something to eat until we would have to go back to traveling to find our own land to call our own.

"Good?" He asked me through a mouth full of antelope. I nodded. "Good. Cause you're gonna need these hunting skills soon."

"Or we can find some lionesses and bring them with us," I suggested. He only rose an eyebrow. "Just kidding."

"Yeah, better be." Kion jooked, before taking another bite. "You think they're missing us?"

"Doubt it," I answered honestly. They still had Kiara there, the only true cub of Simba and mom. We were just there. "Mom for sure, but I don't know about Simba and the others."

 _ **oOo**_

The roar came out of nowhere when we heard it, in a flash we hide behind bushes again. We waited and waited until we saw a lioness jump out. I noticed Kion staring at her in wonder, his light brown eyes shined with confusion.

I rolled my eyes and unleashed my claws silently, if anything it should be easy to get rid of her. One of her and two of us. Kion gulped and began to move out of the bush, slowly I followed him. That got us a better look at the lioness.

She was slender,with chestnut fur with a brown stripe running down her back. The top of her ears are lined with a similar brown, and her pink inner ears have dark brown fur underneath. She has a red nose and her eyes are chocolate brown, and just above them is tawny, with the lower half becoming lighter. This brown-cream color is also present on her muzzle, her underbelly and her paws. The back of her legs contain dark markings. The tip of her tail was dark brown.

I heard Kion slowly move towards her and then she turned to face us.

"Who are you?" She questioned us.

"I'm Kopa and this is my brother, Kion." I said. "We come from the Pridelands, we left in look for our own land to rule."

She gave a friendly smile. "I am Rani, leader of the Night Pride."

"Oh, is that the Pride who lives in these parts?" Kion asked, stepping forward with a charming smile. I rolled my eyes at him. Lover boy.

"Yes. May I ask when you two are leaving?" Rani asked us.

"Er, we just got here so it would be a few days until we leave your land, Rani." I explained.

Rani thought for a moment, seemingly trying to figure out something. "Well, you're welcome to stay with my Pride until you do leave."

"Thank you, Rani." Kion said, giving a smile to her. I swear I saw a blush on her face. "See, Kopa? Nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, yeah," I mumbled. "We won't cause any trouble, Rani."

The Night Pride leader just gave us a smile. "I know you won't. Come, meet the rest of the Pride."


	14. Wasn't The Best Time

_Wasn't The Best Time_

 _ **Kion's POV**_

We smiled warmly when Rani's pride came into view. Most of the them had brown-like fur, maybe for good hunting use for something.

As Rani went through all the pride members, I noticed a few of them looking at us. I gave them a charming smile, as Kopa did too, and I noticed how they blushed a little. Heh, we must be worshiped or something here. I mean, who wouldn't love a few lions? But my attention was on Rani for sure.

"And finally here's Timira." The chestnut furred lioness said at last, I hardly noticed we got onto the last lioness of the pride.

The light brown lioness dipped her head and I gave her a smile, Kopa just merely scoffed and turned away. Oh, like he's not happy to be treated like royalty in this land! This Pride! Besides, if we do leave this pride, I'm making sure we come back at least twice before finally giving up on the Night Pride.

"Nice to meet you, Timira," I dipped my head, some of my mane almost falling in my face. "I'm Kion and this is Kopa."

"I'm sure your parents raised great lions," Timira commented. Both of us looked away for a moment. We hated to be reminded of Simba and mom, mostly mom since we left her heartbroken. "Do you want a tour of the pride?"

Kopa scoffed. "Not likely. We can find our way around without a tour guide thank you." I noticed him smiling at Timiar, but Kopa was never serious about lionesses at all.

I shifted a little, looking at Rani. "I wouldn't mind a tour."

She blushed a little and I wanted to smile brightly. "Oh, well, okay. Follow me Kion."

As Rani led me through the lands the Night Pride probably owned, I really couldn't help but noticed how she kept quiet during this. Was she just not into giving tours or didn't know what to say? I didn't even know what to say to her, but finally when we stopped to take a drink, I opened my mouth.

"You seem like a strong leader." I blurted out.

Rani's chocolate brown eyes gazed on mine. I felt nervous now. "I am. My pride even said so once when I took the leadership. Didn't take them long to trust me."

I nodded, not looking at her in the eyes for a moment I felt like I shouldn't. This was my first time around a lioness I liked, er, not including Tiffu since I could tell she was in love with Kopa but suddenly had no chances when he expressed he didn't like her in that way.

Even Mheetu was surprised but didn't question it.

"So, how long as your Pride lived here?" I asked.

"For a while now," Rani explained, taking another drink. "Only thing is we're not so sure about letting other prides be in this land."

I narrowed my light brown eyes. "What if me and Kopa made our pride here?"

Her head shot up. "What...?"

 _ **oOo**_

 _ **Kopa's POV**_

"This is why we need a land like this." I mumbled to myself. "This land is perfect! Nothing do bother us at all!"

A breeze went by, tossing my mane around a bit, but I didn't care. My eyes were on the land before me, as I found a big rock to stand on.

"Kopa!" I noticed my brother walking back with Rani at his side. He looked to be running towards me while Rani went off to find the rest of her pride, jumping down, I walked until I met with my brother. "What if we made our pride here?"

I shared a look with him for a moment.

"Depends on what Rani thinks about that." I told him. "Unless you romance her and we take over her pride with force."

Alarm rose in his eyes. "No way! We're not doing that, Kop! You know what our father did to King Mufasa, he kiled him in order to get the throne of the Pridelands!"

My claws unleashed for a moment. He was right. We were nothing like our father, in fact we were different from him! We're lucky we got our looks from mom and grandfather Adofo, not from Scar himself. In a moment, my eyes softened when I looked over at Rani's pride.

So cheerful and happy.

"You're right."

"So, do you think we could make our pride here? Away from the Night Pride?" Kion suggested. This land was big enough for two prides. "Rani says it's alright if we can find a loaction away from her pride."

"Far enough away, huh...?" I whisper to myself. "What if our prides join together?"

His eyes narrowed. "Would never work out, Rani's confident we can make it on our own."

Instantly I felt a little hate towards the liobness. Yes, she was right, but two prides joining together could take them unstopable! What did she not get?

"Alright. Let's tell her in three days we're going off to look for land of our own." I said, moving away from him. "How was the tour?"

"Fine, fine." Kion mumbled. "Wishing I had a few more moments with Rani though..."

Letting out a chuckle, I managed to flick him with my tail. "Lover boy, huh? Please, Timira has a better chance with Rani."

"You got a chance with Timira." Kion spat out. "I saw her looking at you."

"Not a chance." I growled. "My life will be for making our Kingdom."

"What about heirs?" he questioned.

I stopped. Crap. He was right. "Damn it to hell, Kion."


	15. But We Lived On

_But We Lived On_

A few more days passed since Kopa and Kion's arrival in the Freelands. The sun had been spreading across the land, making the leader of the Night Pride wake up with a yawn. Getting up, Rani set off to do her morning walk before the leader had to attend her duties. As she headed towards the watering hole before going on her walk, she noticed how the golden brother of the twin was already taking a drink.

The rustling of the grass caused the golden lion to stand a little and perk his ears. "Who's behind me?" he raised his voice a little.

Rani smiled a little and walked up to the lion before going at his side, making Kion calm down at the sight of the leader.

"Hello, Kion. I didn't expect to see you awake so early." Rani purred a little.

Light brown eyes soften a little. "Yeah, well, I grew into waking up early when..." he didn't finish the sentence, he only looked away.

Rani titled her head a little. "What's wrong?"

"It's just...before me and Kopa came here to find a pride on our own, we used to live in the Pridelands and were the princes." Kion explained. "Simba, who turned out wasn't our father, trained us to be king until he learned the truth from our mother. We used to play before Kiara, Simba's heir, was born and made future queen..."

"Whatever happened to getting along with Simba?" Rani asked.

"Dunno. We were never the same after that," Kion mumbled, titling his head down. "I just wanted to see how great I could become, maybe prove I could be a leader. But, now that won't happen until Kopa and I find a pride to rule."

Rani had seen the sadness in Kion's light brown eyes appear faster than it should've. She couldn't help but feel so sorry for the ex-prince, just what exactly did happen between Simba and the brothers? If it made Kion sad just talking about it, then it must've been horrible to bare through.

Kion went still when he felt Rani thrust her head under his chin, giving him a nuzzle. Not doing anything for a moment, Kion began to return the affection. He chose to take the affection as friendship instead of love.

"It's okay, Kion. It's in the past." Rani nuzzled him.

"I...I just don't want to belive he never loved us in the first place, but I'm starting to think he never did love us." Kion whispered.

"Kion, he did love you." Rani explained, looking at him. "From the way I heard it when you said you used to play with him, he loved you and Kopa."

The prince stood up and walked to the water, staring down at it. Rani came up beside him to look at the water too. For a moment, Kion thought he could see the watering changing into the reflection of a lion he didn't know before he felt cold water hit his face. He gave a glare to the Night Pride leader.

"Really, Rani?" Kion chuckled, shaking out his mane.

"Yes." Rani smiled, getting into a playful stance. "I can take a few moments off of my duties for today."

"You asked for it!" Kion purred.

 _ **oOo**_

Kopa finally came around to see Kion and Rani in the water of the watering hole and gave them a look. He shrugged if off before coming up and saying he needed to speak with his brother. So, after a moment, Kion went with Kopa while Rani went to do her duties.

"Yes, Kopa? What do you need?"

Kopa scoffed for a moment. "I found a place for our pride to be made. The land has no other lions around, I checked. Even asked some animals."

Kion stopped, eyes widening. How far away was this land from Rani's pride? Yes, she said she wanted their pride away from her's, but could he really leave? "H-How far?"

"Not that far, Ki." Kopa smiled, going past his brother. "Just you wait, soon enough, we'll be kings!"

"With no queens?" Kion asked.

Kopa rolled his eyes. "We'll pick queens! Our first law will be always two rulers of the same family! It doesn't matter if it's two boys, two girls, or a boy and a girl. Always two rulers along with their mates."

Shifting a little, Kion didn't know what to say. "When do we leave?"

"In two days." Kopa explained. "Maybe tomorrow if we're lucky enough to find time!"

The golden prince could only stare at his paws as Kopa walked away to find somewhere to rest up. In that moment, Kion didn't know what to do.


	16. Back Home Things Weren't Normal

_Back Home Things Weren't Normal_

Simba watched as Nala began to give Kiara hunting lessons, ever since the twins left all their attention went straight to Kiara. One thing could never leave his mind though, nothing could make it go away no matter how hard he tried to get it gone. Nothing. The twins.

"Sir?"

Turning his head slightly, Simba's amber eyes landed on Kovu. The young lion had grown a bit, his brown mane coming in nicely while he was growing in shape and form. Yes, Simba could possibly see a good king coming out of this lion for his daughter. Any animal could probably see the good match between Kovu and Kiara anyday.

"Yes, Kovu?" Simba asked the growing lion.

Kovu shifted a little, still a bit nervous to talk to the king. "Where did Kopa and Kion go? Yeah, they weren't that nice to me, but I wanted to get to know Kiara's brothers."

"Half." Simba corrected him, earning a strange look from Kovu. "They're Nala's sons. Not mine."

"Oh, who's the father then?" Kovu titled his head.

Simba took a deep breath in. "Scar."

Green eyes widen a bit before blinking to remain calm. Kovu took a moment to look at Kiara and then try to think about the twins. They almost looked like though. "But, they look alike."

"The boys luckily got their looks from Nala's father, Adofo." Simba explained. "Though, I admit I thought Kion got his golden fur from me, but it seems like he got it from Adofo."

Staring at his paws for a moment, Kovu silently wondered if the golden king did actually miss the twins. Yes, they weren't blood related, but what did that matter actually? He wasn't blood related to his father, Shujaa, he took him in after he was born. His real father, Kasi, had died with an accident with the crocodiles.

"I'm not blood related to Shujaa," Kovu admited to the king. "I know Shujaa is well-known around here, but he took me in without a question when I was born. He always wanted a son, he was good friends with Kasi, my real father."

"You didn't find that upseting?" Simba questioned, narrowing his eyes a bit. "To suddenly find out the lion you thought was your father was not?"

Kovu shrugged. "Honestly, I didn't care. He treated me like his own cub. He and my mother eventually had Vitani."

Flicking his tail, Simba turned his attention over to the dicrection where the twins had left in, his eyes going soft with sadness. He shouldn't have judged them easily and made things worse. He could've kept them as the heirs instead of making this whole thing happen.

"I just hope they're safe and sound."

 _ **oOo**_

Just before the sun began to set, Simba found Shujaa himself at the watering hole. Having a drink before taking off towards where he and Makali slept. The golden king found himself in front of the pale brown lion with the brown mane and blue eyes.

"May I help you, sire?"

Simba nodded his head a little. "Didn't it borther you to find out Kovu wasn't your son?"

Shujaa gave out a laugh, before shaking his head with a smile. In fact he was glad to be Kovu's step-father. "Simba, honestly, I just loved I had a son. I'm happy with both Kovu and Vitani, really. Kovu, as much as I would've liked it if we were blood-related, had no problems hearing I was just his step-father."

Simba frowned, he was starting to see why Kovu and Shujaa were fine with this whole thing. "I see. I made such a mistake. I didn't see through their eyes to understand what they might've felt."

"Sire, really, it's not too late to go find them." Shujaa explained. "It's perfectly normal to feel bad about a mistake, but nothing can change it."

Simba's eyes narrowed. "I don't know where they left to, though. It would take me days to find them!"

"Then have Zazu go looking and tell all the other prides about the missing princes." Shujaa explained. "See if he can get somewhere with that."

Walking away from the king, Simba could only shake his head. No, he might as well leave the boys alone from now on. Maybe one day they would soon come back to the Pridelands and say they had enough adventures. How he hoped for that...


	17. As We Thought

_As We Thought_

The two brothers crossed the border into the Freelands, the unclaimed land by lions. Kopa kept talking about their kingdom with joy while Kion's thoughts were filled with Rani. The lioness had been upset about them leaving, but let them go without worry. Kion's eyes held a ting of sadness and love during that moment.

"Just you wait, Kion. We're almost there!" Kopa purred loudly, giving a glance at his brother.

Kion rose his head as he opened his mouth to speak to his brother. "Maybe we should the Night Pride to join our Pride."

"What? Why would we do that when there could be rouges to let in and join up?" Kopa asked, titling his head a little, still walking.

Kion shrugged as he jumped to walk beside his brother more, his light brown eyes shined with something Kopa didn't know of. "If we get the Night Pride to join, it would save us the time to actual find rouges to join. Plus, we know Rani's pride is our friends."

Kopa's green/blue eyes shined brightly for a moment. "Not a bad idea, Kion. Once we're settled in, we can go back and ask."

"Sounds great!" Kion purred, trying to keep his cool about this whole thing. "From Rani's pride, we can look for queens."

"Not that!" Kopa shouted, rasing his voice. He almost made Kion wince with worry and scaredness. "We can't do that. We find queens from rouges or something."

Kion thought hard about this. Kopa was suggesting they would randomly picked out rouge lionesses and romance them into having their heirs? No, his brother had to be joking since he didn't look serious about this. It was comfirmed he was when Kopa laughed at his brother's face and said joking.

"Not a nice joke, Kopa." Kion growled playfully, going into a full blown speed of running. "See you there!"

Kopa rolled his eyes before taking off after his brother, laughing all the way.

 _ **oOo**_

Back in the Pridelands, Kovu watched the growing sun from Pride Rock. Not much had happened since the day when Simba asked questions about the whole father thing. While Kovu had no problems in helping the king with the whole thing, he wondered if Simba would actually go looking for them.

While he watched the sun, Kiara came out of the den. She grew but was still a bit young to be a teen lioness. She looked much like Simba himself, but she was adventureous like the twins were.

"Kovu, what are you doing?" Kiara asked, going to sit beside him.

Kovu smiled at his betrothed. "Nothing much. Just looking out on the sun."

Kiara took a breath. "Do you think they're out there somewhere?"

"Who?" Kovu asked.

"Kopa and Kion." Kiara explained, looking up to the sky. Sadness growing in her amber eyes. "I miss them, I've been bored since they left."

The dark lion frowned and wanted to do something for his friend and future mate. "Oh, well, I bet they're doing just fine."

"I want them back."

Green eyes blinked. "I don't think you can, Kiara."

The crowned princess went silent for a moment, trying to put her mind on other things but it never happened at all.

"Maybe they'll come back..." she whispered to herself.


	18. Then We Came To Our Land

_Then We Came To Our Land_

Kopa and Kion went off into the Freelands looking around in their new kingdom eventually bumping into the mandrill of the Freelands. The mandrill was slender with blue fur and green eyes. Kopa dipped his head while Kion just stared at him.

The mandrill bowed down to the new kings, knowing they would come and become the rulers. "It has been not that long, Kopa."

Kopa gave a smile. "I agree, Omubi."

Omubi's green eyes trailed over to the twin brother of Kopa and gave him a smile. Kion blinked and saw three or four teeth of Omubi was missing. Perhaps Omubi was still young enough to lose teeth? The mandrill didn't seem that old.

"You must be Kion," Omubi spoke, snapping Kion out of his thoughts. "Kopa has told me about you!"

"Er, yes, I am." Kion nodded, trying to sound confident in himself for speaking to this mandrill. Only other mandrill he ever spoke to was Rafiki. "Kopa never told me about you."

Kopa shrugged. "I was in a rush to show you our Kingdom, Ki. Now, Omubi, what about a tour?"

"First off, I wanna know where we're going to be staying." Kion butted in, stepping in between his brother and Omubi.

"Ah, of course! Follow me!" Omubi smiled, taking off to show the two new kings the place they would call home. The Free Rock(called by the other animals of the land).

Arrving at the Free Rock, somewhat smaller than the one back at the Pridelands, Kopa gave a slight growl at the sight. Kion knew the growl was of happiness, they finally had a Kingdom to rule together. Like it should've been at their birth place.

Going up the rocky slope, Kion's light brown eyes gazed around, noticing the cave was spilt into two parts. Possibly one for males and the other for females, maybe not. Maybe one part for new mothers and cubs, or birthing place.

Kopa's eyes went to the high point where they would soon stand, looking over the Freelands. He barely heard Omubi explain the caves and what they could be used for, he only felt Kion shove him a little to break his thoughts.

"Hmm?" Kopa asked.

"Did you hear Omubi?" Kion spat out. "He just explained the caves."

Kopa gave a sheepish smile. "Oh, heh, no...What are the caves for Omubi?"

"Simple. One part can be used for the pride to sleep in, the other for new mothers and cubs, possible royals. There's a cave underneath for birthing." Omubi explained once more to the new kings.

Kopa nodded in understanding. "It's good to know. Tell me, Omubi. Is there hornbill wanting to survive royalty or is up for a job?"

The mandrill thought for a moment, nodding after a moment. "Yes, there's a hornbill going by the name of Koda."

Kion purred. "Wonderful! Can you get Koda for us while we look around the Free Rock?"

"Of course."

 _ **oOo**_

After finishing up the tour of the Freelands, the kings found themselves at the Free Rock, waiting at the top of the slope for Koda to come by. Omubi had said Koda would be by later after he finished up watching the little chicks that hatched from the eggs.

After a while, the twins saw a hornbill coming by. The black and white hornbill with sharp blue eyes flew onto the ground and gave a bow.

"Good day, I am Koda." Koda explained.

Kion gave a smile. "Nice to meet you, Koda. I'm Kion and this is Kopa. The new kings."

"Yes. Word around the Freelands is we're going to have new kings." Koda nodded, straighting. "I have to say, tomorrow would be the best time to claim this kingdom."

"While that's helpful to know, Koda, can you do us a favor?" Kopa asked.

"Anything." Koda nodded.

Kion shifted a little. "There's a pride called the Night Pride. We're good friends with the leader, Rani. We want to join prides. Could you flew over there and tell her about our offer?"

"Yes. Where is the pride staying?" Koda asked.

"In the middle of the Hunt lands." Kopa answered, moving to look at the borders. "It should be easy to find them. Ask around if you will."

With another bow, Koda took off. "Yes, sires!"

Watching him go off into the border of the Hunt Lands, Kopa narrowed his eyes for a moment before taking a sigh to turn back to his brother. His eyes shined with happiness.

"We did it, Kion. We're kings." Kopa beamed.

"Not yet, Kopa. We have roar to the land first thing tomorrow." Kion explained. "Hopefully, Rani will come and join prides."

"Yes, maybe." Kopa agreed.


	19. With Greatness Behind Everything We Know

_With Greatness Behind Everything We Known_

Just as the morning sun came up on the Freelands, Koda returned to see the newly king Kopa just waking up and shaking out his mane. In the cave Kion peacefully slept. Koda could see his black and red mane raising and falling as he breathed softly.

"Koda, have you brought news of Rani's word?" Kopa asked, sitting down as Koda flew to sit on his shoulder.

Koda nodded with a smile. "Yes, I have. Rani and her pride will come and join. They would like to know what your Pride's name is."

Going stiff, Kopa had fogotten about that. Surely Kion had an idea about what to name their pride! The golden lion always had ideas for names when they were in need of some! Yes, once Kion awoke he would ask for the name of his pride.

"Me and my brother will make a pride name once he awakes." Kopa said. "Make sure the Night Pride gets here without trouble, Koda."

Without a word, the hornbill flew off into the dircetion of the Night Pride. In the distance, Kopa could faintly make out the Night Leader's growing form. Without anymore thought, he made his way into the cave and woke up his brother with a shove. Kion frowned when his eyes opened as he gave out a yawn.

"What now? I'm sleeping!" Kion growled, angered he was woken up from his dream. "Having the best dream too! We were just about to hunt down some zebra!"

Kopa rolled his eyes before giving his brother a flick of his tail. "Rani's pride is almost here. We also need a name for our own Pride."

Quickly, Kion got up and shook his mane to look nice. His eyes narrowed with thought but he settled on one name he thought Kopa might like. "What about the Ancestor Pride?"

"Ancestor?" Kopa titled his head.

The golden king nodded with a smile. "We honor our ancestors don't we? It would be nice to creat a pride named after them!"

"I guess it works." Kopa mumbled under his breath. "Anyway, let's go greet Rani."

Going out of the cave, Kion's eyes settled on the closing form of the lioness he had grown to like over the time when they were staying at the Night Pride. He gave a purr when they're eyes met up. He could sense they were going to spend time with each other a lot more now.

Telling them they would be there in a moment, Koda flew down to tell the kings it was time to roar and they slowly went up to the top of the slope and watched as the animals came to stand to watch their new kings roar.

Omubi was also there, giving a nod to them to give a great big roar.

In an instant, the two kings let out a gaint roar and the Night Pride roared along with them. Kion felt a rush of excitment come over him as they went on roaring until they stopped and went back down to meet up with the Night Pride once more.

"Good to see you again," Rani purred at her friends. "What is your Pride's name?"

"Ancestor Pride. To honor our ancestors." Kion explained, giving his friend a nuzzle. "How's your Pride, Rani?"

Rani gave a smile before giving Kopa a friendly nuzzle before stepping back to answer the golden king. "We're fine. Many wanted to join up your pride so in the end, we did."

"Good to know. Come, we'll show you around." Kopa said, going down the slope to show the new members of the pride around the Freelands.

 _ **oOo**_

After the tour, Kion took Rani towards the lake to have a drink. Kopa went to show the other lionesses where they would be sleeping. The golden king shifted a little, nervous to speak to Rani after meeting up again from a little while ago, while he really shouldn't.

"Rani, um," Kion mumbled. "H-Have you thought about having..."

Rani looked at the king with her chocolate brown eyes. "Having what? A mate?"

"Y-Yeah..." Kion nodded.

Rani sat beside the golden king before thrusting her head under his head, giving him a nuzzle with a purr added onto it. Kion returned the affection without thinking twice. They two nuzzled for a few minutes before Rani pulled back and gave Kion a lick on the cheek, surprising the king.

"That answer this question?" Rani asked, giving the king a loving gaze.

"Maybe." Kion joked.

Rolling her eyes, Rani pinned the golden king down. "Really now? You believe joking will make this better? Answer me this, Kion. Do you think you'll get a mate?"

Kion smirked. "Maybe, if it's you then yes."

"Hmm then maybe we should give us a try." Rani purred, giving him a nuzzle.

"Maybe? No, I think we should!" Kion grinned, getting up after Rani got off of him. "After all, I am the king."

The chestnut furred lioness gave him a smile before nuzzling him once more. "Doesn't mean I can't reject you, Kion. But I'm not going to."

Kion could only purr loudly. "Well, shall we head back to the Free Rock?"

"We shall."


	20. Yet Nothing Changed Our Fate

_Yet Nothing Changed Our Fate_

When the arsing sun finally reached the horizon, Simba was looking out on his kingdom. Soon to be Kiara and Kovu's kingdom. It had been some time since the distance traveling princes left and Simba was sure they would come back, only to be proven wrong. Kovu and Kiara had grown into fine lions(almost ready to be married) to be proud of and it was almost time for their wedding. Kovu always took lessons with Simba or Nala, if the king was busy training Kiara.

Every morning Nala would leave to do whatever while Simba watched his queen move from their resting place. It made him nervous to think about her leaving him, but that would never happen. She had assured him she would never think about leaving the fair ruler, which made him always relax when she would leave, but something always nagged him. Maybe she still hadn't come to grip with the boys gone?

Simba shook his head when he heard paw steps coming towards him. He needed to be focused on this. When the dark brown fur of Kovu came into view, the king ralaxed a bit. Kovu always was a good listner whenever someone needed to have someone listen to them.

"Simba, can we speak about when the wedding is?" Kovu asked, green eyes trying to stay on the golden king of the Pridelands.

The king lowered his orange gazed to look at the lion. "Is something wrong that you need to speak about the wedding date?"

Kovu sighed and nodded his head, instantly surprising Simba and making him worry right away. "To put it without trying to make you mad, Simba. We, uh, kinda need to be married right away now. Kiara visited Rafiki the other day and long story short, she's pregnant."

Simba's orange eyes widen and he gave a gasp, moving to stand in a shock pose. Kovu gave him a weak smile. "Kovu, did you really mate out of wedlock?"

"It was my idea, Simba! Blame me if you need to!" Kovu cried, trying to calm the king down. "We don't step up to be king and queen, but we just need to be married!"

Taking deep breaths in and out, Simba finally managed to calm himself down. All the thoughts about becoming a grandfather came to him in a rush. He gently shook his head and stared at Kovu with a gentle smile, the best he could without freaking out once more.

"I'm sure Rafiki will be able to have the wedding sooner than we wanted," Simba said. "Just make sure you take care of her, got it?"

"Yes, sire." Kovu dipped his head, happy to know Simba was okay with this. Well, the best he could be okay with it.

 _ **oOo**_

In the Freelands everything was going wonderfully, the animals enjoyed talking to the kings with ease behind everything they said. Kopa took care of the problems with the zebras, elephants, and giraffes while Kion took care of the other animal problems.

During the time as king, Kion eventually had gotten married to Rani and while Kopa was happy, the creamy-orange king still had no interest in a mate at all. Yet whenever he looked out on the kingdom, he could somehow see the Pridelands coming back to him.

One night when Kopa was still up, his eyes were firmly on the kingdom when he shook his head to get the Pridelands out of his mind, not seeing Kion coming up behind him. The other king titled his head in confusion, Kopa was always sleeping by this time.

"Kopa, what are you doing up still? You're usually sleeping by this point." Kion said, sitting by his brother.

Kopa's eyes narrowed. "I can't sleep, Kion. My mind is somewhere else right now."

"Are you still going to not have a mate?" Kion eventually asked after a moment of silence. "I mean, we are going to be needing heirs."

"Yes, yes, I know that. You won't be needing to look for a lioness to bare your heir." Kopa chuckled, much to Kion's annoyance. "I'm sure Rani will bare a healthy heir."

Rolling his eyes, Kion gave a slight sigh. "You could at least look for a queen of your own, Kopa."

"Not a chance." Kopa mumbled. "Maybe before we left the Pridelands we could've asked Tiffu and Mheetu to come."

"Maybe. Too late now." Kion said back.

Sighing, Kopa started to head back to the cave. "Let's go to bed, we need rest."


	21. So We Never Talked About The Day It Left

_So We Never Talked About The Day It All Left_

Nearly much time had passed and the raising sun of the Ancestor Pride, The two kings sat outside of the birthing cave as Rani was giving birth to Kion's heir. Kopa had gotten an heir from an unknown lioness since he refused to tell the mother of his newborn son, Lir. Little Lir was only a few days old and looked very much like his father.

Yet to watch his brother shift with nervousness and everything above that, was proving to be hard as watching Simba explain to them Kiara was going to be queen. Eventually Kion laid down, eyes kept on the entrance of the cave.

A moment later and Oumbi came out, smiling before telling Kion he could go into the cave. Kopa followed after. Considering Lir was too young to be without a mother, Rani had agreed to nurse the young cub till he could eat prey.

Snuggled close to his mother's chest was a tan furred cub. Next to the cub was a brown furred cub. Kion's light brown eyes widen for a moment before giving off a purr. Kopa gave one off too at the sight of his nephews.

Rani licked both heads before the eye colors were reaveled. One had chocolate brown eyes and the other had light brown eyes.

"Rani," Kion whispered, nuzzling his mate. "They're beautiful."

"I thought we could name our sons Adofo and Mohatu II." Rani explained. Kion had told her about the first king, Mohatu a while ago, and thought it would be a good name for a son. "I assume one will be ruling with Lir?"

Kopa nodded. "Yes, one has too. We'll train the other one to protect the pride with his life, much like we would've."

"What about Adofo rules with Lir?" Kion suggested. "Mohatu II can protect the land or choose his own life, I won't be complaining."

"A good idea," Kopa said. "I just wish mother could see her grandcubs."

"As do I." Kion agreed. "She would've been amazing grandmother."

Rani nuzzled her cubs before looking at her mate and brother-in-law. "Should we invite her? After all, it's only right to let her see her grandcubs."

"That's a good idea, I'll get Koda to fly over to the Pridelands." Kopa spoke, moving out of the birthing cave.

 _ **oOo**_

Walking into the cave of the Pridelands, Kovu shook out his mane and was greeted by his daughter, Maua. The little princess looked so much like him but with Kiara's eyes and nose, it made Kovu able to tell she was going to be a great queen.

They hadn't been king and queen for long, but it was nice to see Simba and Nala getting along with their granddaughter.

"There's my little flower," Kovu greeted his cub. "How are you?"

Maua smiled. "Good daddy! Grandpa Simba told me a story about how he took back the Pridelands from Scar!"

"Did he now? Did you say thank you after he finished?" Kovu asked. Maua nodded. "Good."

"Zuzu came back and inturrupted the story though," Maua frowned.

Kovu blinked. What could Zuzu want? "What did he want?"

"He said some Ancestor Pride wanted grandma Nala to come by and see her other grandcubs." Maua frowned. "I'm her only grandcub though. . ."

"No. You're not." The king and his heir turned to look at Simba coming into the cave with a slight sadden face. "She had two cubs before your mother, Maua."

Kovu shifted. "Kopa and Kion?"

"Yes." The old golden ex-king nodded. "Kopa had a cub named Lir and Kion had two cubs named Adofo and Mohatu II."

So, after all this time, the twins had cubs? Kovu smiled brightly at the thought of being an Uncle. Kiara would be so happy when she heard her half-brothers had cubs of their own.

Maua would be a cousin and could possibly know her cousins.

"When did Nala leave for the pride?" Kovu asked.

"Just now," Simba smiled for the first time when thinking of the twins. "I have a feeling the days are going to get brighter now."

"They will."

 _ **oOo**_

Nala walked up the slope of the Ancestor Pride and found Kopa waiting for with a smile. She ran up to her son and gave him a nuzzle, happy to see how much he had grown.

"You've grown, Kopa," Nala purred. "I'm proud."

"Thank you mom," Kopa said.

Nala smiled. "Now, where are my little grandcubs?"

"This way."

Leading her down to the cave where Rani, Kion, and the cubs were, Nala kept her mind clear at the thought of seeing Kion once again. Not only was she seeing her boys, she was going to meet Kion's mate, his cubs, and Kopa's cub. This was a happy day for her.

When seeing her three new grandcubs, Nala rushed to nuzzle Kion before having a close look at the cubs.

"They're beautiful," Nala commented. "Now, tell me, which one is which?"

"The tan furred one is Adofo, Mohatu II is the brown furred one, and Lir is the creamy pale furred one." Rani explained.

"Mom, what did Simba say when he heard the news?" Kion gulped.

Nala stopped for a moment. "I can't say he wasn't angered, he was thrilled. Much like he was when Maua was born."

Kopa rose an eyebrow. "Maua. . .?"

"Kiara and Kovu's daughter." Nala sighed. "The heir of Pride Rock."

Kion shrugged. "Doesn't bother me. I have sons of my own."

"As do I." Kopa nodded. "You're welcome to visit us any time mom."

"That's wonderful to hear my sons. . ."


End file.
